Category: admissions and student recruitment

Does computer science need a makeover?

Wired Campus asks: Is ‘Computer Science’ an Outdated Term?

As enrollment numbers in college computer-science departments continue to dwindle, professors are contemplating ever-more-elaborate strategies to keep the United States from slipping further in the international engineering sweepstakes. One particularly popular idea: rebranding computer-science programs to broaden their appeal.

According to the Associated Press, more than a dozen universities have created “media computation” programs, which hope to introduce students to computer science through digital art and Web design, not traditional programming.

Got to admit, comp sci doesn’t have the greatest image in the world. But I’m not sure renaming the discipline — “putting lipstick on the pig,” to use the vernacular — is the solution. I’m not saying a “renaming” of the discipline won’t help, but it’s only part of the solution. Showing prospective students how computer science can change the world is one possible approach. That’s something some UMR students have been working on to try to attract more females to the discipline.

Saturday Six: because I took Friday off

I blew off my Friday Five this week, but now I’m racked with guilt, so today I’m giving you an extra click for your weekend blog-reading pleasure.

  1. The good, bad and ugly of campus visits, by Tom Hayes of SimpsonScarborough. Hayes is accompanying his daughter on her quest for a college home, and so far they’ve visited 10 campuses, with two more to go. Hayes offers perceptions on the good, bad and ugly of the campus tours.
  2. This blog has been tagged in the thinking bloggers meme that’s been going around. I first read about it on Robert French’s blog. I was shocked — shocked! — that French didn’t mention me as one of the five bloggers who make him think, but he did mention Karine Joly (who would certainly make my list, along with French), and she picked up on the meme theme and mentioned this one. I’m truly honored and humbled by this selection, and must get to work on my acceptance speech post haste.
  3. Diva Marketing celebrates three years of blogging with a look how blogging has changed her business. Happy blogiversary, Diva.
  4. Watch this video or we’ll shoot this puppy! National Lampoon — anyone remember them? — joins the world of viral video by launching an online video network. Global Neighbourhoods provides the scoop, noting that the announcement came in the form of “a very top-down, unfunny business-to-business oriented press release.” That’s pretty sad. Calling P.J. O’Rourke…
  5. While we’re on the subject of viral video, Dennis Miller of Mansfield University posted recently about his second thoughts on posting college-promo video to YouTube (see YouTube: Wrong Channel?). His second thoughts came after a discussion with some female students at Mansfield who told him YouTube was “mainly a guy thing” and used only for catching stupid videos. Karine Joly picks up the topic and ponders whether there might be hope for Miller and Mansfield after all.
  6. After weeks of blogging inactivity, eRelevant‘s Morgan Davis announces a hiatus from blogging so he can “finish some hulking, be-fanged programming projects.” He plans to relaunch the blog in the fall and vows: “It will be less personal, less inflammatory and more topical and content-oriented.” I only hope the inflammation doesn’t disappear completely. That’s part of what makes eRelevant so irreverent.

Bonus link: the latest eduflick, Chalk, looks interesting. Link via EduWonk.